The Best Diet is the One That Is Sustainable
11 Jul, 2020
How I Decided to Pick a Low-Carb Diet
I am not blessed with a body type that is skinny no matter what I eat. Ever since my teenage years, I went through many phrases of losing weight and gaining it back. I am a huge foodie, which makes the weight-loss journey even more daunting.
There were a few methods I tried before:
- Starving myself, and not eating until my stomach made sound
- Skipping breakfast, or skipping dinner
- Set aside a small portion for each meal and not allowing myself to eat more after I’m done
- Various exercises include running, sit-ups, and dancing
The Pro is I saw results fast. I remember that when I was 19, I got rid of 15 lbs in just one month.
The Con is...well I eventually gained it back after about a year. Because the starving method caused too much suffering and it prevented me from being able to concentrate. During my sophomore year at college, I simply had to choose either to keep starving myself to stay skinny, or have more brain power and energy to focus on academics.
Then came my early twenties that I was able to lose weight again. This time was with eating packaged noodles most of the time, with not much nutrition like meat and vegetables. It did work! However, my skin was suffering and I constantly battled with acne issues.
Gained Weight Again
As I grew older, weight loss became more difficult. I also had less patience and determination for starving myself. “Why bother?” I asked myself. After all, I was in a healthy relationship with a boyfriend who loved me for who I am.
Although I was happily in a relationship and eating all the time. I did suffer from low self-esteem whenever I went to the beach and noticed how many girls were more in shape and more confident than I was. I ended up shunning myself from going outdoors (to avoid seeing beautiful women), and frequented restaurants more.
So what made me decide to lose weight again?
Well, you heard that women tried to look their best for their weddings, and that was me in 2018. My fiancé at the time noticed how frustrated I was, because I had all intentions to lose weight, and yet just can’t stop eating.
He then suggested the keto diet, or low-carb diet to me. I must say that when I first tried it, I found it outrageous, and I was very angry.
I am Asian and I love Asian food, which contains a lot of noodles, rice, dumplings, boba, or any carb you can name. I also love desserts of all kind. My usual diet at that time was sweet bread for breakfast, rice for lunch and noodles for dinner. How on earth could I live a life without carbs?! Not to mention my mom making fun of people eating salad as goats’ behaviors, which I secretly agreed.
Can you guess what I did next? Well although reluctant, I was willing to try. After all, it was my wedding I was planning for. My diet is low-carb, not strictly no-carb, because this is what I can handle without going crazy. I started slowly, by first limiting my carb-intake. Each meal I still had a small amount of carbs to make me happy, while complimented with more veggies and meat.
The result? Although I was not losing weight rapidly, I was able to lose 1 lb per month. By the time of my wedding, I had lost 14 lbs altogether.
Fast forward till today, 11 months after my wedding. Not only do I not bounce back to my previous weight, I was actually able to continue and lose another 3 lbs.
And there is something more interesting I noticed. As I stick with the low-carb diet, which I pay attention to limit 120 gram per day, I realize my dependence on carbs becoming less and less. I also noticed too much carbs will actually make me feel gross and lazy. Most days I don’t need any carbs at all for my dinner, just salad and meat will keep me happy. I also find myself using more low-carb substitutes like quinoa, cauliflower rice, and yogurt.
Which led me to realize:
Training your body is the most important part in losing weight. Train your body to like healthy, low-carb ingredients, and eventually those are what your body will crave.
In my blog, I will continue to share easy recipes on low-carb meals and desserts. I am hoping what helped me can also help you to build confidence in your body.
Now my next goal is toning my body and I had already started to be more active and regularly go on hiking trips. At the moment, I am feeling the best I have ever been, and looking forward to what I can accomplish next.
